After leaving Los Frailes we motored for about 6 hours to Ensenada de los Muertos (yeah, I know: "Cove of the Dead"). It was another beautiful anchorage with only a handful of boats and crystal clear water. Viewing the anchorage from the north side looking south you could almost believe you were in the South Pacific: the Mountains rising up looked lush and tropical. Not the arid moonscape that is so common in the Sea. Also, we were further enough north that we weren't getting the swell that makes the dinghy landing so exciting. There was also a "Giggling Marlin" restaurant there that provides free wi-fi! While there we visited with Duetto and Tin Soldier.
The girls played a bit on the beach but the shore is mostly rocks rather than soft sand so not as ideal. We spent two nights there so we're really on a roll with school!

We left Los Muertos early Thursday morning (November 15th) and motored/sailed up to La Paz. Once again the wind was quite light and dead on the nose for most of the day. (The story of our lives.) We spent our first two nights in La Paz at Marina Palmira- a very beautiful facility- and then decided to "go cheap" and anchor just outside of Marina de la Paz. We'd read in our cruising guide that due to strong tidal currents the boats at anchor can really swing around in different directions, resulting in something called the "La Paz Waltz". We just made sure to allow plenty of room around us and had no problems. In fact the anchorage is quite convenient and close to town.

There were lots of folks we knew from the Ha Ha staying at Marina de la Paz, including Gary from Cok Cabuk. We originally met Gary way back in Morro Bay, California when a group of us were waiting out weather. Back then Gary invited us to attend his 70th (!) birthday party in La Paz. His daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids flew in to La Paz from Oregon and so we, along with the folks from Harrier and Zig Zag, enjoyed a little birthday celebration in front of Marina de la Paz.

Although La Paz is a pretty good-sized city it had much more appeal to us than Cabo. For starters it's not set up as a total tourist trap. It's just a nice city in Mexico with lots of stores, services, restaurants, etc. that are there for the local population, not the tourists. The people here are very friendly- something we find everywhere we've been in Mexico. The city has a miles-long stretch of beach complete with the Malecon a paved promenade that follows along the beach. As expected many shops were closed on Sunday but Sunday evening as we were walking back from dinner the city was alive with locals who were out enjoying the evening. Families with little children, groups of friends, and couples all strolling along, playing in the sand or chatting on one of the many park benches. Meanwhile music poured out of several open-air restaurants. When we made our way back to the boat, we could still see all the activity and hear the music along the Malecon (it was still quite early in the evening). It made for a very enjoyable and relaxing evening.